White Lillies
by KawaiiNattie
Summary: After a chance meeting with a beautiful stranger in the forest, 7 year-old Robins life gets even more complicated. The strangest people gain an unhealthy interest in her, and when her past is questioned will she really want to know the truth?


Robin put her head on the table, it had been yet another long day and it was far from over. With lethargic movements she packed her books and pushed her chair away from the desk. She made straight for the door keeping her head down hoping Mrs Knight wouldn't see her.

"Oh! Robin honey, before you go, can I talk to you a second?"

Damn, this was a conversation she had been avoiding. With a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach, Robin turned and made her way back to her teacher, "yes Miss?"

Mrs Knight sat at the chair behind her desk and smiled kindly at the little girl, she was a little old lady in all the children s eyes with bone white hair and wrinkles. "Have you had a chance to get your father to sign that form I gave to you last week?"

"N..no miss, daddy has been busy and I didn't want to disturb him."

The elderly teacher smiled but it didn't reach her eyes, the whole town knew exactly what Robin's father was 'busy' with, but no one discussed it, or at least not in front of Robin.

This had always puzzled her, it was her father, she had to live with him and knew what it did to him first hand, so why would no one talk about it in front of her? Adults were strange.

"I just hate to see you fritter away the year here in the 2nd grade, when your time would be better spent with Mr Howell in the 3rd, not that I'm trying to get rid of you sweetie."

Robin returned the smile her teacher gave her, "I know that Mrs Knight, I'll try and get it signed tonight, it's only Thursday, Daddy shouldn't be to busy tonight."

Robin was at the door and about to escape into the hall when Mrs Knight spoke again, "Oh Robin! I haven't given you your prize for winning the quiz today." She pulled the much coveted pack of Maltesers from a draw in her desk and held them out for her.

"No, that's okay Miss," the other kids already hated her enough.

"Please take them honey, I feel like any passing breeze could knock you over, you're so skinny."

Maltesers were British and hard to come by in America, but Mrs Knight had had a cousin in England who sent her them to give to the class. That cousin had recently died, so Mrs Knight was on a limited stock. Robin took the sweets.

* * *

Robin sat with her chin resting on the table in the kitchen/living room area, she was trying to blow a Malteser from one end to the other, an extremely satisfying occupation. She gave a particularly hard puff and it zoomed across the textured surface.

_Go go GO! _She thought standing up in her excitement. It was mere centimetres away from the edge when it was picked up by her father and greedily eaten.

"Daddy!" she squealed in horror.

"What? It was just one chocolate, you've probably scarfed all the others down."

She had, but that wasn't the point.

"Why are you just sitting around here anyway? Don't you have some work to do or something?" he was rummaging around in the cupboard under the sink, and re-emerged with a half empty bottle of whiskey in his hand. Robin shot a glance at her school bag, where her grade jumping forms sat.

Robin considered, her father had just gotten up and hadn't really started drinking yet. It was now or never, "Daddy, could you sign something for me please?"

"Later. Now get out of here and do something like all the other kids! Go on, OUT!"

Robin exited the trailer quickly, coat in hand, before her father got angry. The late afternoon air was cool and refreshing, she smiled seeing the red and orange of the dying leaves on the trees all around her. She skipped happily into the forest, practically mesmerized by the falling colours. It was at least half an hour before she jerked out of her trance to realize she was completely lost.

Panic whelmed up in Robin, she span on the spot trying to recognise something. Anything! But there was nothing, she had never been in this part of the woods before. The panic took over her seven year old mind and she ran.

The trees seemed to be getting denser and the leaf litter on the ground came half way up her shins, it concealed a large log which she tripped right over, landing face first in the leaves. Tears had sprung into her eyes and they now streamed down her face, one thought revolving around and around inside her head, _she would never get out_.

A soft breeze blew a new sound in Robins direction, a soft crunching noise that drifted through the trees, Robins head snapped around trying to pin point the source.

At first she could see nothing but trees and leaves, but suddenly she caught a flash of white moving through the trunks. Panic was replaced by hope, someone was hiking and they must know the way home!

She pulled herself up and ran off after the movement.

The trees suddenly thinned out and Robin found herself at the edge of a small clearing. The ground was completely covered by thick ivy and dead leaves and in the very centre was a fallen tree, which also had the dark green ivy creeping over its form.

But what Robin now stared at was not the beauty of the place, but the man sitting cross legged on the tree with his head in his hands.

Being 7, Robin didn't think about the potential dangers of talking to a strange man in the middle of the forest with no one else around. What she did think about was why the man was so sad, she could feel waves of his hurt from where she stood. A burning desire to help him, somehow, rose in Robins chest.

"Hello," she said in her most friendly voice stepping forward. The man's head snapped up and in the blink of an eye was on his feet, his fists tightly balled.

"What are you doing here?" his speech was jerky, his eyes wide and horrified, "you shouldn't be here. You need to go!" He waved a hand at her in a violent 'shoo' motion

"But.." Robin took another step forward but with another blindingly quick movement the man was standing behind the fallen tree.

"You need to go!" he repeated almost angrily. Robin blinked, her eyes leaking again.

"But I don't know which way to go!" more tears rolled down her cheeks without her bidding. Tears never usually got her anywhere, but they had an effect on the man. He looked appalled with himself, his fists unclenched and he moved towards her.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make you cry."

For the first time she took the man all in at once. He wore dark blue jeans, a white shirt and a loose black tie but no shoes. Now, to a 7 year old everyone between the ages of 16-30 looked the same, but he was incredibly pretty, if a little pale.

She frowned and looked harder at his eyes, they were a warm butterscotch which in itself was strange, but there were flecks of what looked like red mixed in with the brown, giving him a disconcerting appearance.

The man shifted uncomfortably and looked away, obviously not enjoying her staring like she was. She smiled and scrubbed her face with the back of her hand and sniffed.

"I'm _not_ crying, what's your name?"

The man smiled at her obvious lie but answered anyway, "they call me Dante, and what's your name?"

"Robin," she smiled, pleased with her new friend.

"That's a pretty name." He commented, crouching down so he didn't tower over her small frame. "It's very nice to meet you but what are you doing in this part of the woods?"

Robin's large brown eyes widened and she hung her head in shame, "I got lost," she said feebly, "I know it was stupid and I've never got lost before I swear! But it was all so pretty and I got distracted.." the tears returned to her eyes and fell down her cheeks. They were doing that a lot recently.

"Hey hey! It's okay, I'll help you get home, don't cry, don't cry!" he hesitated for a moment before he reached out and brushed the tears from her face. As he leant in Robin caught a whiff of the sent coming off him. It was amazing, like flowers and chocolate all rolled into one, it made her smile.

He straightened up and offered her his hand, which she took without hesitation. Dante's hand was at least twice the size of hers and for some reason that made them both smile. It was getting late, and the dim light of early evening didn't make it easy for Robin to avoid the forest debris which tripped her constantly. But Dante caught her every time before she hit the floor.

"You're quite a klutz aren't you?" he laughed after she fell for the thousandth time, "you should look where you're going."

She stuck her tongue at him.

He was right, but as they walked, Robin could hardly take her eyes of him, which honestly didn't help her balance, but there was something strange about him, it wasn't wrong but it certainly wasn't normal.

Despite the rough ground he was more graceful then anyone she had ever seen, he also didn't seem to be breathing, but she must have been imagining that.


End file.
